Jiggies are collectible items found in all of the Banjo-Kazooie games and can be considered the series' symbol. These golden jigsaw pieces contain a strong magic capable of breaking open the entrances to the games' worlds and are essential in progressing through each game. Jiggies are obtained through completing various missions, helping characters, playing mini-games, fighting bosses, or sometimes (especially near the beginning of the games) found lying on the ground in certain areas. Depending on the game, the number and manner in which the Jiggies open worlds is different.

Contents

Games

Every level has a matching portrait hidden somewhere in Gruntilda's Lair. Jiggies fill in missing pieces of the level's portrait like a Jigsaw Puzzle, and an increasing number is required for each consecutive world. Jiggies here are actually "spent" to open worlds, unlike subsequent games in which only the total amount of Jiggies collected is considered. The very first Jiggy is found right next to the entrance of Gruntilda's Lair, allowing the duo to complete the Mumbo's Mountain picture and systematically raid the whole lair of its Jiggies, Notes and Moves. This is similar to Super Mario 64 (the game that laid base for Banjo-Kazooie and many other 3D platformers) in which one door wasn't sealed, allowing Mario to collect his first Stars to open other worlds and collect more.

Jiggies are taken, from Jig-O-Vends, to the Jiggy Bank in the Central Plaza of Showdown Town, to open the world act doors, and, similar to the previous games, an increasing number is needed on every door.

While not serving as a collectible, the Jiggy does serve as the series symbol for the Banjo-Kazooie franchise. The jingle that plays when Banjo & Kazooie collects a Jiggy serves as their victory theme and they pick one up during one of their victory animations.

In Banjo-Kazooie, when Banjo obtains a Jiggy he will jump around dancing while holding it above his head, stopping just long enough for Kazooie to eat it. The only exceptions to this are when Banjo and Kazooie are flying or swimming underwater, or while using an animal transformation.

In Banjo-Tooie, the Jiggy spins around Banjo before flying into the air and disappearing without disrupting gameplay. This new method could have been easier to program and could be used for any character or situation in which the Jiggy is obtained without looking strange if used on unusual terrain (ex. while sliding down a slope). This also was done because standing with it was time-consuming.

In Banjo-Kazooie, the player will be left with two spare Jiggies after completing all eleven empty pictures in Grunty's Lair. The remaining two Jiggies do not have a corresponding jigsaw puzzle, but obtaining them does alter the game's ending cinematic: Mumbo will show the player photographs of the Stop 'n' Swop items intended to be used in Banjo-Tooie.

Banjo & Kazooie performed an extended version of their Jiggy dance at one point in Banjo-Kazooie's development. The music for this version of the dance is still present in the final version of the game.

Banjo-Kazooie - Jiggy Dance - Early Animation

In Gobi's Valley, we find out that Jiggies have been around for at least 1,000 years, since Grabba says he had his Jiggy for that long. What they were used for in the ancient past is unknown.

Jiggies are used as an attack move for a piñata called Fizzly Bear on Viva Piñata, another game developed by Rare.

The Oogle Boogle Tribe’s Jiggy. Said to have “teeth marks”, but looks undistinguishable from the rest.

No matter where it comes from (i.e. Boggy barfing it up, Canary Mary's wing, pooped out by Eyrie), Jiggies are always rendered with a clean and unscratched model. This includes cases where the narrative requires them to have minimum damage, such as when Banjo mentions that the Jiggy obtained from the Oogle Boogle Tribe has teeth marks on it (due to being bitten by a member who thought that there was chocolate inside of it).

Jiggies can also be broken into pieces, as evidenced in Banjo-Tooie, where in Glitter Gulch Mine, Banjo and Kazooie destroy the Jiggy Boulder in the Crushing Shed, also shattering the Jiggy, forcing Banjo-Kazooie to find the pieces and put it back together. Also in Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge, some of Grunty's minions had shattered a Jiggy into pieces, and the pieces are subsequently gathered and put back together with the help of Miss Bucket.